How many times have you looked at some outrageous food pin on Pinterest and thought: “That would give me diabetes.” We are probably all guilty of that faulty logic. Diet surely has an impact on health, but it is not the only cause for diabetes. In fact, insensitive comments assuming sugary, outrageous food and being fat are the indicators of diabetes are offensive to many of those who suffer from the disease. Some of these common myths need to be debunked in order to better respect those who have merely inherited a genetic malfunction in processing blood sugar.

First of all, there is a difference between the two main types of diabetes. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and accounts for between 5 and 10 percent of diabetic cases. This type causes the pancreas to create little or no insulin at all, which is an essential hormone in regulating the entrance of glucose into our cells. Without taking insulin every day, those with Type 1 diabetes cannot get sugar into their cells and the cells will essentially be ‘starving’ even if there is adequate sugar in the blood. If this is prolonged, a diabetic can go into a coma called diabetic ketoacidosis.

Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, is more common and accounts for 90-95 percent of cases. This is the type that most people think of as typical diabetes because it is often present in those who are overweight or obese and those who are physically inactive. However, it is different because the symptoms are slowly developed and is mostly found in adults, although it is becoming more prevalent in younger people. In this type, the body is producing insulin but cannot use it well, called insulin resistance. So just as in Type 1, glucose cannot get into the starving cells and sugar gets built up in the blood.

There are quite a few things that are implied in the idea of “getting diabetes” from a chocolate lasagna recipe or some equally decadent dish. First of all, it implies that you can “catch” the disease. Diabetes is not contagious, and it does not simply show up overnight.

As discussed, it is either inherited genetically or developed over a length of time with a host of other factors present. Also, by associating high-calorie foods with diabetes, comments assume that being overweight or increasing body fat makes you diabetic. This is not necessarily true. Too much excess weight is a definitely a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, but there is no clear cause and effect relationship between the two.

The general population often believes that diabetes comes about from eating too many cookies, cake and ice cream, which is inaccurate. Really, diabetes is caused by a genetics or a combination of genetics and other lifestyle factors. It is a multi-faceted disease that should be considered holistically and not blamed solely on diet.

With the previous myths considered, it is easy to see how offensive insensitive stereotypes of diabetics can be. In all reality, many diabetics are not overweight and do not even show any physical symptoms. Also, an irony of the disease is that the general population believes that eating sugary creations is a hallmark diabetes, when those who suffer have to be very conscious of what they eat and generally cannot indulge in such foods on a regular basis.

Furthermore, it should be understood how serious and difficult diabetes can be. An estimated 25.8 million Americans have diabetes and about 79 million adults have pre-diabetes. It is the seventh leading cause of death and costs us about $174 million dollars annually. It can lead to blindness, strokes, amputations and nerve damage if untreated. Along with those difficulties, the disease is largely considered a “lonely” disease. Even with many supportive people around, diabetics often have to handle their day-to-day treatment, monitoring, stress and other responsibilities themselves.

One can only imagine how difficult it would be to deal with the constant blood sugar monitoring, finger pricks and watching what you eat all the time. It would be frustrating enough without having oblivious people discounting the reality of your life to too many Oreo-cookie-dough-stuffed brownies covered in chocolate. Even though people may not mean their comments in a disrespectful or offensive way, it is good for all of us to be educated on what it actually means and looks like to have diabetes so that we can be more cognizant of the way we refer to the disease and those who are afflicted by it.